


Something Unexpected

by eriah211



Category: Primeval
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Flirting, M/M, Stubborn Danny, Stubborn Lester, Team, Team Dynamics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-24
Updated: 2020-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:02:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22392211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eriah211/pseuds/eriah211
Summary: Sometimes, unexpected things happen, especially on Christmas. Or what happens when Danny insists on flirting and Lester insists on ignoring him.
Relationships: James Lester/Danny Quinn
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	Something Unexpected

**Author's Note:**

> Written for primeval_denial's Secret Santa 2019 for fififolle, using her prompts. Previously posted on Livejournal.  
> Thank you very much to the lovely fredbassett for the beta, all remaining mistakes are mine and mine alone.

Lester had known that hiring Danny Quinn was going to be a problem from the very first moment, but he hadn’t quite anticipated how much of a problem.

The man was a reckless misfit with no respect for authority (a puzzling quality for someone who had been in the police), but experience had taught Lester how to deal with people like that after years of trying to handle Professor Cutter. He wasn’t completely sure he had mastered all the tricks, but he thought he was now reasonably successful in his efforts dealing with the Scottish Nightmare.

Lester had been expecting the recklessness and had been ready to face it; what he hadn’t been expecting was that the man would also be, aside from insufferably daring and imprudent, a terrible flirt.

Lester had noticed Danny flirting shamelessly with Jenny, Sarah, and also Becker, although that last attempt hadn’t been well-received by a slightly jealous captain Ryan. But he would never have imagined that Danny’s attempts at flirting were going to be also directed at him.

If Lester had to be completely honest, though, he would have to admit that the real problem wasn’t that mildly annoying habit, it was the effect that, surprisingly, Danny’s mischievous smile had on him.

He would have thought he was too old and too sensible to fall for it, but only years of perfecting a mask of indifference had saved him from the embarrassment of smiling back at the cheeky man on more than one occasion.

There was, obviously, the very first time that had happened, when Lester had told Christine that he was going to hire him to replace Cutter while he was recovering from his injuries. The man had leant carelessly over the handrail and had stared intently at him as he had asked a silly question.

Lester had been caught off guard, not having expected the man to play those tricks on his new boss, but he had still managed a brief, nonchalant reply before walking away. He hadn’t managed to stop himself from turning back to look at Danny again before going to his office, though, and that man’s playful grin had been almost impossible to resist.

Lester had been more careful after that first time, but he had still realised that his eyes were drawn to Danny more often than it was appropriate.

When Christine had finally been defeated and Lester had been restored to his rightful place as head of the ARC, the cheerful mood had been general, but still Lester had kept glancing at Danny’s broad smile and his loud celebration, not paying much attention to the others.

That time there had been nobody else to blame than himself, but some other times, Lester was sure he was right to blame the ex-copper and his constant teasing.

There had been that time, for example, when a very proud Danny had decided to get inside the ARC atrium riding a horse. Not just any horse, but a medieval war horse that had come through the latest anomaly and they hadn’t been able to send back before it had closed.  
Danny had ridden the horse straight towards the place where Lester had been standing and he had made it stop there in an acceptably elegant manner as Lester stared in disbelief.

“Guv,” Danny had greeted him with a charming smile. “What do you think about our latest addition to the menagerie?”

Right by Lester’s side, Cutter had noticeably rolled his eyes, but had said nothing. Both men hadn’t started off on the right foot, but after Danny had saved Cutter from dying at his ex-wife’s hands, Cutter, as well as a relieved Stephen, had decided to be more ‘tolerant’ of the new guy.

“Very impressive, Quinn,” Lester had replied drily, keeping a carefully uninterested expression on his face. “Do you need a stepladder to get down from there? I’m sure there’s one available somewhere.”

The horse was huge and surely not the easiest animal to control so, actually, the entrance had been quite impressive, but Lester would have never told Danny that.

Danny had looked a bit disappointed at Lester’s lack of enthusiasm, but he had recovered his usual cocky grin almost immediately.

“No need, guv, I’m sure I‘ll manage,” he had replied cheerfully as he started guiding the horse towards the menagerie without getting off of it.

Lester had opened his mouth to berate him for riding a horse inside the ARC, but he had finally decided to let it go and had simply watched him go away instead.

On another occasion, Danny had walked uninvited into his office and had stood right before him with his hands behind his back, looking like the cat that ate the canary.

Not in the mood for games after a long phone call with the PM, Lester had scowled at him and had brusquely asked him what he wanted.

“I’ve heard the story about the future predator attack in the ARC and the way you fought back on your own,” Danny had answered. “That’s quite impressive, guv.”

“Surely you haven’t interrupted my work to ask me about that, had you, Quinn?” Lester had replied menacingly, glaring daggers at him.

“Nah, I already got all the details from the lads,” Danny had replied, unfazed. “I simply came across this today and I thought you should have it nearby, just in case you get in trouble again.”

He had smiled smugly and had showed what he had been hiding behind his back.

It was a big claymore, with double cross-guard and a round-shaped pommel at the end of the long hilt.

“I think I’m right to assume it’s a real medieval sword,” Lester had asked, trying to hide his awe.

“That’s correct,” Danny had agreed, proudly. “Its owner went back through the anomaly in a hurry, with a bit of encouragement from our part, and forgot this beauty behind.”

It was definitely a magnificent sword, a piece that surely had made any warrior look terrifying in battle.

“Shouldn’t it be in a museum?” Lester had asked, hesitantly.

“It would be difficult to explain why it looks brand new, don’t you think?” Danny had replied with a wink.

He had laid the sword over Lester’s desk and bowed solemnly to him before walking out of his office with a satisfied smile on his face.

Lester had stared open-mouthed at the huge sword on his desk, wondering what he was supposed to do with it. Eventually, it had found a place on a pedestal in a corner of his office, because, as he had told anybody who had asked, it would have been a waste to storage it somewhere never to be seen again. Also, because he really liked it, of course, but he wasn’t going to inflate Danny’s ego even more by admitting that out loud.

Life and chaos in the ARC kept going as usual and Lester had finally thought he had his silly infatuation under control, but once again the anomalies decided to make his life more difficult.

***

It was the day before Christmas, but some mean-spirited scrooge had decided to schedule a meeting in the Home Office for that afternoon. Unsurprisingly, the meeting had been tedious and pointless, and Lester had been subjected to inane questions that he had tried his best to answer without any sarcasm showing.

After the long meeting, Lester had been dying to get home and call it a day, but the traffic on Christmas Eve was as bad as expected so, of course, his taxi had got stuck not long after driving away from the Home Office.

Lester was internally cursing inept politicians and last-minute shoppers when he got a phone call from Jenny and was informed that there was a new anomaly alert in the city centre.

“Where is it?” he asked, horrified. “Please, tell me we don’t have an anomaly in Trafalgar Square on Christmas Eve.”

“Actually, it’s located in the Victoria Tower Gardens,” she replied. “But don’t worry, for once the festivities are working in our favour. The place was closed since they were getting ready for some Christmas event for tomorrow so there won’t be many witnesses.”

“Is everything under control then?”

“Well...”

Lester didn’t like that pause at all and braced himself for the rest of the story.

“Some creatures came through the anomaly and are still on the loose,” she said. “But they’re small and mostly harmless,” she added quickly. “It’s just they’re very nervous little creatures and we’re having some trouble rounding them up. Danny has an idea that could work, though.”

Lester sighed down the phone, not very comforted by that last statement.

“Where are you exactly?” he asked.

“By the Lambeth Bridge, beside the playground. Why?”

“I’m on my way.”

He wasn’t very far away from the site and even if the weather was cold, at least it wasn’t raining so Lester paid the taxi driver and got out of the car.

After an annoying walk avoiding people carrying too many shopping bags, Lester arrived at the place and found Jenny waiting for him. On his way there, Lester had feared the worst, but Jenny looked far from worried when he approached her.

“Don’t worry, James, everything is under control. Danny’s plan has worked.”

Lester could see the anomaly a few metres away, in the middle of the gardens, and many bits and pieces of destroyed Christmas decorations spread over the grass, but there was no sign of any loose creature around.

“The soldiers are checking the place, making sure there’s none of them left,” Abby said, walking towards them. “Hi, Lester! You’re late to the party!” she greeted him cheerfully when she noticed him standing next to Jenny.

“So I’ve heard, but where is Quinn, exactly, and what has he done this time?”

“He used a... special vehicle to lure the creatures back through the anomaly,” Jenny explained.

“And he has dragged Connor along with him, as usual,” Abby added with a hint of annoyance on her voice.

“A special vehicle?” Lester asked, sensing there was more to know about that.

“The creatures seemed to be attracted to shiny, colourful things so Danny suggested using something like that. They should be about to come back now...”

The three of them turned around to look at the anomaly right in time to see Danny, Connor and their ‘special vehicle’ coming back through the anomaly and oh, was that a sight to behold.

Lester knew Danny was prone to grand entrances and he had seen and heard about many of his action hero-like moves, but he would have never expected any thing like the one he was seeing right now.

Danny was standing proud and tall on the side of the red locomotive of a small road train that was being driven by Connor Temple. The small locomotive, as well as the children-sized carriage that was attached to it, was fully decorated with Christmas ornaments and colourful lights that blinked intermittently while a lively Christmas song played from the small speakers on the sides.

Danny made a sign to the soldiers on the site and they immediately locked the anomaly before anything could follow them through. As the train got closer, Danny spotted them and waved cheerfully as if he was in a parade. Spectacular as it was, the sight was certainly unexpected and that was probably why Lester found himself caught completely off guard and couldn’t stop himself from snorting with laughter.

Lester saw Danny jumping off the slowing train and walking towards them with long strides.

“Hi, guv! Nice to see you here,” Danny said when he reached them. “I was thinking maybe we should keep one of those in the ARC, the little critters seemed to like it a lot and it’s very festive,” he added, pointing at the small train.

Lester didn’t even try to stop the burst of laughter this time, he laughed wholeheartedly, feeling the stress of the day melting away. Abby and Jenny were looking at him as if he had just grown a second head, but Danny, on the other hand, was looking at him not with one of his usual smug grins, but with a genuinely happy smile on his face.

When Lester finally stopped laughing, he looked back at Danny and simply smiled back.

***

Lester had the next day off, but he woke up early on Christmas day and quickly got tired of the excited screams of the neighbours’ children. After some consideration, he decided that going to a mostly empty ARC to get some paperwork done was a good idea so he left his apartment looking for a bit of peace.

The ARC building was, as expected, almost deserted, so he headed straight to his office drawing just a few glances from the soldiers on guard duty that day. The plan was simple, do some paperwork, enjoy a bit of the expensive liquor he kept in store for special occasions and then head out to have lunch in a nice restaurant. Surprisingly, it all derailed quite soon when he stepped into his office to find Danny sprawled in one of the chairs.

“Merry Christmas, guv!”

Lester simply gaped, his hand still on the door handle.

“How did you know I was going to come here today?” he finally asked, bewildered.

“I was a detective, James,” Danny replied. “And I have good instincts.”

Lester raised an eyebrow at both the reply and the use of his first name, but as usual, Danny didn’t even blink.

“I just wanted to leave you a present,” Danny eventually explained. “It’s Christmas, after all.”

Lester noticed then the box wrapped in colourful gift paper that was on his desk and he had somehow managed to miss until that moment.

“A present? That’s very thoughtful of you,” Lester said, very carefully picking his words. “Did you bring a present for everybody?”

“No, I didn’t,” Danny simply replied, looking serious for once.

“Did you find it or... borrow it from some visitor from the past?” Lester asked, walking towards his desk as nonchalantly as he could manage.

“No, I didn’t, I bought it,” Danny said. “Well, the lady from the gift shop at the Natural History Museum helped me a bit, but I picked it myself.”

“Should I open it now?” Lester asked, carefully avoiding Danny’s eyes.

He knew how to deal with a smug Danny, but a serious Danny was unknown territory, even if it wasn’t an unpleasant one.

“Of course.”

Slowly, Lester opened the present, which had obviously been beautifully wrapped by somebody with more patience than Danny Quinn usually showed, and found a blue mammoth cuddly toy inside.

“I know it’s a woolly mammoth and Monty isn’t that hairy but I thought you would like it...”

“It’s perfect, thank you,” Lester said, looking straight at Danny. “I didn’t buy you anything, though...”

“Well, you could invite me to lunch... unless you are busy, of course.”

Danny was clearly offering him an easy way to politely turn him down, Lester realised. It was surprising to see that the man could be quite subtle when he really wanted to.

Lester took the soft toy out of the box and hesitated for a moment, but he finally decided he was too old to be a coward.

“It seems only fair,” he replied, smiling at Danny.

The ex-copper seemed truly surprised for a second, as if he hadn’t really expected his plan to succeed. Lester realised he liked to be the one to catch Danny off guard and wondered what other things he could do to surprise him.

He was definitely going to enjoy discovering them.

END


End file.
